two great "reads".............

I have done a great deal of reading about Vietnam over the summer.  I am a fan of reading novels that are geographically situated in places I will be visiting so I headed off to the library early in the summer and and browsed the shelves. What initially struck me was the HUGE  number of novels written by Americans about the Vietnam War.  Shelves of these books.......which of course I really was not interested in reading.  I wanted to read books written by the Vietnamese....about the war...about their country....about life in Southeast Asia.  I probably read about ten novels this summer and want to report on two of my favorites.

1.  When Heaven and Earth Changed Places by Le Ly Hayslip.  This was by far my favorite.  I wanted to grasp what living in Vietnam was like for the Vietnamese during the "American War" --as they call it.  Well, little did I know the impact this book would have upon me.  WOW..... I could hardly put it down.  This book is an autobiography of a women who survived the terror of the Vietnam War many times over.  Her life as a young child, secure, happy and loved unwinds in an unbelievable way.  She is a survivor--and has the grit and determination to live through this terrible time.  I learned a great deal about the Vietnamese reading this book.....their culture....the impact many, many years of war has had upon them. It gave me a great deal of insight into what war can do to a people and their country.  

2.  Catfish and Mandala: A two-wheeled Voyage through the Landscape and Memory of Vietnam by Andrew S. Pham.  I first read this book about a year ago --re-read it this summer and it still ranks as one of my favorites.  Pham left Vietnam as one of the "boat people" and settled in California.  He returns to Vietnam traveling via bike searching for his roots.  It really is a wonderful "read".  This was his first novel and it has been awarded all types of prizes.  I just finished his second novel....and although it was good, didn't find it as appealing as this one.

So..........if anyone is looking for some good "reads" check these out!